Brad Reed, from Penrith, suffers from acute myeloid leukaemia

He had already undergone a series of strong chemotherapy sessions, but could not withstand any more major treatment for fear of damaging his organs.

It meant his best hope was to find a matching bone marrow donor.

Over the weekend he had the operation after a match was found.

German donor

Megan Godden, from the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust, has been helping Brad and his family.

She said: "Brad desperately needed a transplant.

"He had had a lot of treatment - a lot of chemotherapy and radiotherapy and his body had actually stopped responding to the treatment.

"That often happens in these cases where the last resort is a bone marrow or stem cell transplant.

The search had been opened up worldwide and the match, a 33-year-old man, from Germany, was found.

Ms Godden said following the operation, it would take some time for him to recover and his immune system take over again.

Newcastle General Hospital said Brad was in a stable condition and was doing as well as could be expected at this stage in his treatment.